Claire Zagorski

Claire is a paramedic, a harm reductionist and a graduate research assistant and PhD student in translational science at the University of Texas at Austin, as well as an MS student in public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She studies drug-checking implementation and the composition of the illicit drug supply.

RFK Jr. Is Headlining the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit. This Doesn’t Bode Well.

On April 21, the first day of the 14th annual Rx and Illicit Drug Summit, organizers announced a surprise presenter…

April 24, 2025

“New Meth” Is Nothing to Fear. It Isn’t New. It’s Just Meth.

If you’ve ever seen someone talk about “new meth” online, they were probably describing how it explained some aspect of…

September 1, 2022

An Opioid Vaccine Is Not the Answer

In 1974, scientists at the University of Chicago immunized a rhesus monkey against morphine. After training the monkey to self-administer…

January 10, 2022

Let’s Examine the Astroworld Syringe-Wielding Assailant Rumor

On November 5, at the Astroworld festival in Houston, at least eight people were killed in what appeared, from multiple…

November 9, 2021

Health Care Workers Need to Be Watching the Splintering Drug Supply

In the summer of 2016, the synthetic cannabinoid "K2" burst into the drug landscape in Austin, where I was working…

September 28, 2021

A Guide to Fentanyl Touch Overdoses, Which Do Not Exist

Once as a paramedic student, I accidentally sprayed fentanyl in my face. It was my first time administering the medication,…

August 11, 2021

The Pernicious Myth of Fentanyl-Laced Cannabis

A recent Washington Post piece on the ever-worsening increase in drug poisoning deaths has reanimated angst over the supposed issue…

July 20, 2021

The Naloxone Arms Race Is Headed Nowhere Good

In elementary school, my best friend Celina wanted to be a doctor when she grew up. She loved science, gave…

June 23, 2021